From a Cell Phone to a PC Safely

The development of the power of cell phones has made them our main communication tool. However, for many tasks they continue being less comfy than other devices. That is why the research team of the Information Technology Group of the Telecommunications EE at the University of Vigo has been developing the Ancora technology, with which they intend to take advantage of all that power but transferring its interface to more comfortable handling devices, such as a desktop computer.

Felipe Gil-Castiñeira, project director, teacher and researcher of the Department of Telematics Engineering at UVigo, explains that the technology, called Ancora I / O, “is a tool that allows interaction with complex data that are embedded in a cell phone», but using a larger screen and keyboard.

In addition to the power, mobile terminals allow privacy and a greater confidentiality than other devices, and that makes communications more safely. Felipe provide an example of possible use a management application stock market, that “we continue to execute from our cell phones or handheld devices, but only by moving the interface to a computer we will have more agility to work without compromising our privacy».

AtlantTIC is the research center in Telecommunications Technologies at the UVigo

There are similar technologies, such as Chrome Cast, from Google, or Mirror Link, from Nokia -a company located in Silicon Valley where Felipe was working – but they are not same. On the one hand, Chrome Cast does launch images, not applications. And Mirror Link is used to connect our mobile or handheld devices with a vehicle.

«The development of the prototype for Android is almost ready; Now we have to polish it a bit», says Felipe, who has set up an approximate deadline of 18 to 20 months to launch this high end product.

The team is part of ATlantic, the research center in Telecommunications Technologies at the UVigo, and has gotten financial support this year of 469,700 € from the Ignitia program, at the Galician Innovation Institute, Gain.

Many Galician companies have found through innovation a perfect tool to challenge the current global economic crisis. (I+E) Innovar para Emprender —Innovate to Learn in Spanish— is a new series of jornalistic reports integrated in the scientific culture, technology and part of the FECYT. The project has the full financial and logistic back up of the Axencia Galega de Innovación—The Innovation Galician Agency.